The Rae Line Boats story - the rise, fall and revival of a Kiwi boat brand

For a few years in the early 2000’s Rae Line Boats was the Southern Hemisphere’s largest manufacturer of stern drive vessels - an impressive achievement for two blokes running a business out of a warehouse in Swannanoa, North Canterbury. 

That is, until the global financial crisis hit in 2008. Production slowed, staff started to transition into other industries, and in 2011 the company stopped building entirely (but not for long). 

The rollercoaster rise and fall of Rae Line Boats

Rae Line was a big name in NZ boating during the early/mid 2000’s but just a few years before that it didn’t even exist. The brand started when two friends and former colleagues, Ian Williamson and Peter Rae, secured a contract to build Sea Ray models under license and the Sea Ray brand name for NZ, Australia and the South Pacific. 

At the time Sea Ray was one of the world’s largest boat brands, so this deal was a significant opportunity; one Peter and Ian certainly made the most of. Rae Line was also the only company in the world at the time permitted to build Sea Rays outside of the US.

Rhys Williamson, Managing Director at Rae Line Boats and Ian’s son, explains:

“The reason this arrangement worked was largely because of savings on ocean freight and the exchange rate.  After doing costings, my father said if we can build Sea Ray models here in NZ and AU we’ll have a massive cost advantage.”

Peter, Ian and a small team produced boats of incredible quality, building and selling hundreds of Sea Ray’s most popular models around NZ and Australia. 

“At the time there were 5-6 Sea Ray dealers in Australia, Sports Marine in New Zealand, and we grew to become the biggest manufacturer of stern drive boats in the Southern Hemisphere.”

Sea Ray reviewed their forward plans and decided to withdraw from the licensing agreement in 2006. They allowed Rae Line to continue producing their current models under the Rae Line brand name, and they did with great success, expanding to Europe and the UK. Then in 2008, the Global Financial Crisis struck. Several New Zealand boat builders saw demand drop off a cliff that year, including Rae Line. Their doors officially closed in 2011.

Prodigal son to the Rhyscue

Rhys had taken advantage of the Sea Ray - Rae Line partnership in his own way. Until 2011 he was working in the Sea Ray Product Development and Engineering department in Florida, helping the company innovate and craft new models. He learnt how things were done at one of the world’s largest boat manufacturers:

“It came at a cost. I learnt to be a perfectionist. I saw how to drive product development with a continuous improvement mindset.”

With these learnings, Rhys came home to New Zealand, caught up with Peter Rae, and together they decided to bring Rae Line back to life. He says he didn’t know how big the job would be at the time:

“The brand had been dormant for almost a year, on the verge of wrapping up, or I was going to bring it back. The old man gave me the opportunity.”

“It was the hardest thing I ever did. At the time I was a young, single man, so the hours I put in didn’t matter … It was a huge learning curve and I had to learn many things from scratch.”

Sales were never a problem, there was strong demand from boaters all over New Zealand from day one. The real challenges were, restarting manufacturing with more modern techniques, hiring and training staff to deal with demand booms.

80% of time spent on 20% of detail

If you can’t tell by now, Rhys is a perfectionist - great if you’re buying a Rae Line vessel, but slightly stressful if you’re restarting a dormant boat manufacturer:

“Everything took longer than I thought it would when restarting Rae Line. It was a real difficult challenge to get myself up to speed and learn, but also to see progress on manufacturing at the same time.”

“One thing a staff member taught me that I’ve found to be true is that you spend 80% of time on the last 20% of detail. I’ve been almost obsessive when designing our new vessels, which sets a high standard, provides high quality designs - it’s not just run of the mill. But it all takes time.”

The new Rae Line obviously no longer has an agreement with Sea Ray, so the boats have changed. The new vessels are similar, but they’re built with mainly inventory from local suppliers, and designed to specifically suit Kiwi boaties:

“This has driven lots of innovation. The 205 was our first inhouse design, the 186 was our most recent, and the slightly larger 210 is coming soon. The lines and the shapes are still inspired by Sea Ray - they’re beautiful boats - but they've been adjusted to suit how New Zealanders like to use them.”

The new vessels may be different, but they’re still filling the same gap in the market:

“We’re a premium sports boat. A family boat. Everything at the moment is a high end wakeboarding, or a fishing vessel. But we’re different,” says Rhys.

“Rae Line has a bowrider as small as 5.5 metres, whereas most of the world has left these smaller types of boat behind and only build 6 metres or above. People love them though, they’re easy handling, easy to tow, easy to store. Lots of benefits, and they’re extremely well finished.”

Rhys goes on to explain that Rae Lines may not be for everyone, but their loyal customers love them:

“They’re for customers who want to get out there and have a great time. Tow the kids on the biscuit, throw a fishing line in, go for a wakeboard, load up the boat and take the family out. They’re an all-purpose vessel - and often at a fairer price point than our competitors.”

A new partnership, new models, and a bright future

What’s next for Rae Line Boats? A brand new partnership with Mariner Insurance, for one:

“Lots of my customers were insuring with Mariner. I’d do their repairs and always found them easy to deal with - and had great feedback from customers. There was never any argument over costs, or timeframes,” Rhys said. 

“Now we’re set up as a dealer, which means we can offer discounted insurance. It works for everyone. We work with a good insurer we can trust. Our customers get the benefit of a well-priced policy.”

New models are also in development, all upholstery was moved in-house, and Rae Line moved into a bigger facility:

“Some of our customers have grown their families, and they’re looking at a second or third boat. They want a bit more space so they can take all the grandkids out - so larger models are coming.”

The 206 is the current largest model, but soon Rae Line are releasing the 210, built on the same hull but with an extended platform for more cabin space. And thanks to Rhys’s obsession with details and continuous improvement, expect new models to further refine what’s already working for the vessels:

“We’re consistently updating and upgrading our technology, our designs. For example, we had a small dash on our older vessels, now it’s fully flush, with a larger screen - it looks sharp. These details add value over the long run.”

15 years after restarting Rae Line, and after years working late nights, Rhys is an experienced managing director and boat builder. And just like his dad and Peter Rae back in the 90’s, he’s a safe set of hands building an iconic Kiwi boat brand out of a Swannanoa warehouse. They might be (almost) in the same place, but Rae Line has come a long way.